Introduction to node-ical

node-ical is a powerful library that allows you to parse and process iCalendar (.ics) files in Node.js. Whether you’re building a calendar application or just need to read event data, node-ical provides a robust API to get the job done.

Installation

  
    npm install node-ical
  

APIs and Usage

Parsing an iCalendar File

  
    const ical = require('node-ical');
    const data = ical.parseFile('path/to/your/calendar.ics');
    
    console.log(data);
  

Fetching Calendar Events from a URL

  
    const ical = require('node-ical');
    ical.fromURL('http://example.com/calendar.ics', {}, (err, data) => {
      if (err) throw err;
      console.log(data);
    });
  

Listing Events with Details

  
    const ical = require('node-ical');
    ical.fromURL('http://example.com/calendar.ics', {}, (err, data) => {
      if (err) throw err;
      
      for (let k in data) {
        if (data.hasOwnProperty(k)) {
          const event = data[k];
          if (event.type === 'VEVENT') {
            console.log(`Event: ${event.summary}, Start: ${event.start}, End: ${event.end}`);
          }
        }
      }
    });
  

Filtering Events by Date

  
    const ical = require('node-ical');
    const events = ical.sync.parseFile('path/to/your/calendar.ics');
    
    const filteredEvents = Object.values(events).filter((event) => {
      return event.type === 'VEVENT' && event.start >= new Date();
    });
    
    console.log(filteredEvents);
  

Application Example

Let’s build a small Node.js application that uses node-ical to fetch and display upcoming events from a public calendar URL.

  
    const express = require('express');
    const ical = require('node-ical');
    const app = express();
    
    app.get('/events', (req, res) => {
      ical.fromURL('http://example.com/public-calendar.ics', {}, (err, data) => {
        if (err) {
          res.status(500).send('Error fetching calendar');
          return;
        }
        
        const events = Object.values(data).filter(event => event.type === 'VEVENT');
        res.json(events);
      });
    });
    
    app.listen(3000, () => {
      console.log('Server running on port 3000');
    });
  

With this application, you can fetch and display events by visiting http://localhost:3000/events.

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